The day we decided to walk around the Mt Blanc massif (popularly known as TMB – Tour de Mont Blanc), I had visions of lugging an ill-fitting and ungainly trekking duffle around. From past experience using such a pack, I shuddered at the thought of my trek being wrecked by the suffering this piece of …
In this piece, I’ll be listing the core equipment we took along, with its pros – cons and my observations. Some of this equipment is specific to our kind of expedition and is in part generic for all expeditions. Ultra light day sack – I had taken along my a Deuter 33L sack. I could have …
There have been a lot of requests to share the kit list and the equipment that we carried, individually and as a team. I am detailing it all out, by category, with observations, pros/cons. Hope it will be of help to future adventurers to any desert region and if you have any questions, leave a …
After I was back from the Gobi, I had one of my closest friends come over to meet me. He is a veteran of high altitude expeditions, an A grader from the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering. If there was anyone I’d always listened to it was him. I was all excited about what I had …
A flag can come to your rescue in unknown ways. The team had walked ahead that day, with the van following us later after picking up supplies. By 4.30 pm, there was no sign of the van. We found a good pasture for the camels and set up camp. The much touted satellite phone was …
The rainbow spans the entire horizon ahead of me, to the east. The rain has just abated, though it continues to threaten in the form of dark clouds further north. As I sit at the table, munching biscuits lathered with apricot jam and my book for company, the loneliness and the enormity of the plains …
Besides the homo sapiens on our team, we each had an animal counterpart in one double humped Bactrian camel. Like the humans though, they came with colorful and varied personalities and abilities. It was the first time for all of us at handling camels. Agii, Albekh, Janka and Wantok were the only folks who had …
Most of the credit for keeping us safe and sound, healthy and on track for the daily grind goes to our support staff. Kobesh Co, an adventure company owned by the much talented and recently married Agii Makhsum is responsible for logistics and support for the expedition. The staff comprised of Agii, himself, Janka who …
At any given moment, there are hundreds of expeditions going on around the world. They might be solo or team events. The more extraordinary and not-done-before kind they are, the more they attract attention. I am glad to be a part of one such expedition, that is not been frequently attempted before. Not from India, …
